Rabbi Dov Lior, rabbi of Kiryat Arba and head of the yeshiva there, chose to use the platform of the fourth Ramla conference to state that the State of Israel "must encourage Bedouins to return to their native land in Saudi Arabia and Libya".
Rabbi Lior made his statements at a special plenum devoted to the problem of the unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the Negev in the Halachic view following the Goldberg Committee recommendations which called for the regularization of the illegal Bedouin settlements. Rabbi Lior presented the considerations and decision over the questions raised by the committee decision in detail.
"With regards to the Bedouins I say that incentives should be nurtured, including financial incentives, to encourage the return to their countries of origin," the rabbi said.
"Today there is a great deal of land in Saudi Arabia. Libya also has some available land. They have enough land. I'm not saying that we won't help them from a humanitarian perspective – we'll help them there. If they are left here, there won't be any solution as they work against the people of Israel and the State of Israel."
The rabbi emphasized that the Bedouin population should receive assistance when they leave for the Arab countries, as opposed to the way the state acted when the residents of the Gush Katif settlements were evicted.
Front Page Features